Kisses are the best comfort
by punchingyoungsharks
Summary: Justin is wondering why Ernie has been acting so strangey. Will a day skiving off classes lead to a surprising confession? Slash, One-shot


Justin

There was a smell of rain in the air, that clean, fresh, cloudy smell of silver rain after a storm. Wind sang through the bare branches of trees and played tag through the Womping Willow. Justin pressed his forehead against the cold glass of his dorm's window, staring out over the grounds. Hufflepuff's dorm had the fortunate fact that it was on the ground floor, and they could easily stare out at the beautiful grounds of Hogwarts. The dark haired boy at the window sighed, and his breath fogged up the glass, he waited for it to disappate and then went back to staring out over the misty stretch of sloping grass, leading into the dark, gloomy forest. It was that gray time before dawn, and Justin felt particularly lost in the swirls of fog outside.

He was thinking, thinking quietly of his troubles while twisting the hem of his tee beneath his quick fingers. This was just one of his nervous habits, something he was not very proud of it. Justin would tug of his sleeves until they were frayed, he would shirt and fidget in times that required absolute stillness, and he would often chew his nails until they were so short that they stung him and made it hard to work. More than once Justin had found himself receiving a spell from Madam Pompfrey for growing his nails out to the proper length.

He was thinking about schoolwork, and Ernie, his best friend besides the two girls that fancied the two, Susan and Hannah. Justin closed his eyes, and then leaned away from the chilly window that had been soothing his heated face. The common room was entirely too warm, the fire blazing handsomely in it's hearth, casting a warm homely glow about the place. He wondered how the fire never seemed to go out, as it had been close to dying before he and his fellow fifth years had gone to bed, but disregarded it. There were more important things to think about. Like Ernie. He winced about the fight they had had the night before, something hot and cold at the came time. Hot with fury and cold with insult.

They had been fighting about Hannah, whom Ernie was dating. She had completely torn the absolutely moony love-struck fool that was Justin's best friend Ernie away from him, and he was fed up with it. It had been like this since fourth year, when the two blondes had struck it up during the Yule Ball. Of course it was the Yule Ball, everyone was hooking up then, even Ginny Weasly and Longbottom. Susan had tried her damnest to get Justin to kiss her. He had awkwardly refused, saying he wasn't interested…

Back to Ernie… He was so stubborn, so hot-tempered that Justin sometimes wanted to hit him. The guy was a complete dolt. But he was also one of nicest, and most intelligent guys that Justin had the pleasure to meet, but if he started an argument you had better watch out. Ernie had a sharp tongue, and an in some situations, a nasty right-hook.

Justin could not believe that they had fought over something so stupid as Hannah, the pink cheeked blondie who was nice enough on the outside, but who Justin felt did not suit his best friend at all. Hannah just wasn't like Ernie, she didn't think like him, even if they were good friends, and even greater sweethearts. It made Justin feel sick to his stomach to think of how they kissed so sweetly in the common room, never giving outward displays of over-affection like _some_ people did.

But Justin was sick and tired of being the third wheel, and when he braved saying this directly to Ernie instead of giving blatant hints that his best mate never understood, Ernie had gotten strangely upset. He stared at the roaring fire absentmindedly as he remembered.

"_I never left you on purpose!" _he had said, his brow furrowing and his fists clenching.

"_I never said that, Ernie. But just listen, I'm getting tired of being the third wheel, can you maybe hang out with me once in awhile? You know, like we used to?"_ he had asked, letting a small note of desperate hope enter his voice, hoping Ernie would finally freaking get it, finally understand.

"_That's stupid, Justin. I do hang out with you." _Ernie had muttered, seeming uncomfortable. Then, when Justin had persisted, saying that they had barely seen each other these last two months, and that they should at least have a day together.

Ernie had refused this small request, and that's when Justin realized that there was something wrong with Ernie. The taller blonde was leaning awkwardly away from him, his dark eyes averted, shoulders slouched with his hands in his pockets, sure signs that he was uncomfortable.

"_Why are you acting so strange?"_ Justin recalled asking, and Ernie's eyes flashed briefly in his direction before seemingly nonchalantly scan the common room, where they had been having their odd conversation before going to bed.

"_I'm not."_

"_You won't look at me, Ernie. What's going on?" _he had asked suspiciously, and Ernie definitely avoided his gaze as he muttered about being distracted about homework. Justin had stared at him for a moment before grabbing his arm as Ernie had turned to head away from him. Ernie turned his head away from the dark haired youth, ignoring the proximity of the two.

Justin stepped closer, searching his mate's face briefly, as though he could search out the problem with his hazel eyes.

"_It's me, isn't it? I've upset you with something."_ he had said, before stepping back and releasing him in confusion. Ernie then met his eyes, opened his mouth as though he was going to say something, before closing it, and turning away, shoulders hunched.

Justin could feel himself sweating in the predawn light filling the common room and mixing with the golden flickers of the fire. Great Merlin, why was it so hot in the common room? He retreated from the window and looked around in a silent anger and hurt. The soft, mellow golden yellow of the common room, for once, did not serve to comfort him as he sank into a barrel-shaped arm chair.

If anyone passed by Justin in his slumber on top of a chair in the common room, they didn't wake him, and it was with a jolt that he found himself on the dark wooden floor. He looked around in surprise and realized that Ernie was standing above him, and Justin had woken in time to fling out his arms and catch himself with his palms flat against floor, his knees sore from the sudden impact.

"I thought you'd like to wake up for classes…" said Ernie unhelpfully. Justin sat up, leaning back on his calves in surprise.

"And you couldn't, oh I don't know, poke me or say my name or something like a normal person?" he spluttered, looking up at Ernie in indignation and a flicker of anger.

A smirk flitted across Ernie's face, and he held out a hand to help his friend up. Justin took it gratefully, noticing with a slightly awkward feeling that Ernie's hands were callused and strong.

"Thanks mate," he said, and Ernie nodded. Justin wondered for a moment at his long silence, normally the blonde was the life of the morning, bossily informing people it was time to get their fat arses up or face being late, which Ernie seemed to dread, though he had been late several times before.

"Ernie, about last night, I-" he started, that uncomfortable feeling in his stomach growing a tenfold, but Ernie held up his hand commandingly for silence. Half amused, half annoyed Justin complied.

"It's fine. I talked to Hannah about it, and she said we could have any time to hang out. She's been missing Susan, I'd guess," he said, running a hand through his hair, looking a little embarrassed.

"Today?" asked Justin eagerly. Ernie's dark eyes met his, and he felt a sudden lurch of something unfamiliar in his belly region.

"Sure, Hannah said whenever was fine."

"Can we skip?" he asked hopefully. It was the only way they would get some privacy in this place, even if they ran down into the dungeons.

Ernie was shaking his head, looking a little wistful.

"No, no Justin, we can't skive off, we're in fifth year, and if I miss a whole day…" he started but Justin interrupted.

He put on a stuffy voice as he mimicked his friend, "And you're a Prefect, anf you have to stay perfect, and this is O.W.L year and you can fail if you want Justin but I'm certainly not going to-"

"Shove off," said Ernie, looking amused.

"C'mon Ernie, it's not like you'll miss anything, we're too close to break," huffed Justin, knowing with a smirk that he was right. The teachers hadn't given them anything but reviews these past two weeks. Christmas was coming, and winter was in the air.

"I… well… Okay. But we can't do anything bad. Or get caught."

Justin quirked an eyebrow as though to say, 'Us? Get caught? Right…'. Ernie smiled at him, and then Justin skipped over the passageway that lead to their dormitory, much to Ernie's grumbling at his girlishness. Justin walked over to his four-poster bed, with canary yellow blankets and hangings. The inside of the hangings, and the sheets, however, were a deep pitch black, as Justin knew well. He flung open his trunk and noticed that Ernie had followed him, which he normally would've teased the Prefect about, but his mouth felt suddenly dry, and he settled on worrying his lower lip nervously. Another habit of his.

He rooted through his trunk until he found a clean button up, and then grabbed his vest, tie and robes from the corner of his trunk. Justin unbuttoned his shirt carelessly and tugged it off, trying desperately to not look over to Ernie, standing silently by his bed. He pulled on his shirt, and buttoned it lopsided. Justin stared down at the uneven buttoning and sighed, feeling a wave of despair wash over him, for some unknown reason. Nothing was ever going to go the right way, was it? He unbuttoned his shirt, biting his lip harder, an uncomfortable churn of emotions down in his stomach.

Finally managing to get this crucial part of dressing properly right, Justin pulled his vest over the top of it, and then remembered the fact that he was still wearing his pajama pants, which he pulled off embarrassedly, feeling his face burn and his nerves kick in high drive as butterflies high on life somersaulted around in his stomach. He threw on his slacks and hastened to tie his tie, which he had slung around his neck for safe-keeping. Justin knotted it and stared hopelessly down at the sloppy yellow and black tie.

"Well, since you can't seem to put any of your outfit on right without having some trouble and taking quite a long time to fix it, I'll make up your tie." murmured Ernie, sounding exasperated. Justin let his hands slip from his tie to let Ernie fix it.

"Okay…" he said quietly, and Ernie stepped in front of him to help him with tie. Justin could feel his face flaming and didn't meet Ernie's dark, warm eyes, but looked off to the side. Ernie was so close Justin could feel his hot breath on the side of his neck. Ernie fixed it and tightened it with a small jerk, bringing Justin's attention back to him. He was studying the tie critically, not seeming to be aware of Justin's too obvious blush, or of the butterflies dancing in his gut.

"Is something wrong?" Ernie asked him quietly, seeming to notice Justin's silence for the first time. Usually by now he would've said thank you or made some witty comment about how easy it was to choke yourself with these stupid ties, which no one else seemed to notice.

Justin's hazel eyes met Ernie's dark brown, and he could feel his heart speeding up. His palms felt sweaty, and he wondered what the bloody fuck was wrong with him.

"No, noth-nothing's wrong." he managed, looking away again.

"Really?" Ernie asked, crooking his finger and putting it under Justin's chin so he could raise it. Justin frantically tried not to look at Ernie, but he was so close… He chanced a glance up into Ernie's face, and realized suddenly how tall the blonde was, and he felt suddenly insignificant. Justin became aware that they were almost pressing up against each other, his pulse, already racing sped up further.

"Yeah." he whispered, and then Ernie was kissing him like he dreamed of, like he'd always wanted, the kind of kiss that he imagined on dark nights. Justin's arms wrapped around Ernie's neck, and the taller boy's found his waist, pulling him closer with strong hands.

Justin got the courage to break away from him, and didn't met his gaze, he was breathing hard and fast.

"I'm sorry…" he said, feeling lost.

Ernie pulled him back to his body with a small smile.

"You're not the one who started the kiss…" he said, trailing away.

Justin looked up and met his friends, maybe something more, burning eyes, feeling a strong surge of hope somewhere inside him.

"What… I… What about Hannah, and what about last night?" he asked, flailing in this new feeling of panic.

"Hannah and I broke up," Ernie said briefly.

"You said, she, you… really?" he said, surprised by this.

Ernie smiled at him, his dark eyes flashing with mischief.

"Oh, yes, well… We broke up when I talked to her about it."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I wanted to see what you'd do, and I wanted to see if you could figure it out." he murmured, leaning forward slightly kissing Justin's neck. The dark haired boy tried his best not to give a low growl of desire, but his fingers threaded in the golden hair.

"Why did you kiss-" Justin broke off as Ernie captured his lips once more. This time it was longer as they clutched each other; feeling like this might slip through their fingers like sand if they did not anchor it down, this new passion.

"-me?" Justin gasped as they pulled away from each other once more. Ernie had lead him with gentle hands towards his bed, and he leaned back, laying against his made up bed and black pillows.

"Because I wanted to." he muttered, most unhelpfully, shifting so he was laying next to Justin, his breath brushing Justin's neck and making the boy shiver.

"That's not really a good reason."

"Since when am I ever good?" Ernie asked as he kissed Justin's exposed neck, loosening the tie he had spent minutes perfecting.

"Fair enough… But why were you so weird last night?" he asked, feeling his determination swell inside of him.

Ernie stopped , and looked at him, a slight frown on his face.

"Because Hannah accused me of loving you."

Justin froze.

"What happened?"

"She told me it was over anyways, because I spent half my time with her talking about you, and the other half talking _to _you. She said she was tired of being with someone who obviously didn't love her back. I asked her what she meant and she told me that I must be crazy if I couldn't see that I loved you, and that you… loved me too," he said, very quietly. Justin bit his lip, thinking.

"I was realizing last night that I… that… that I _do _love you, and that was scaring me. But when you touched me I felt like I was on fire, and when you looked at me I felt like I was going to fall apart if I didn't know how you felt about… about me." he whispered into Justin's neck.

"I…" he wasn't sure what to say. Ernie shifted again so that he was leaning on his elbows, looking down into Justin's eyes, his blonde hair falling in his face.

"I'm not asking you for anything. I know I'm not the smartest or have the best personality, but for you… I'd give my everything to you, to be with you, to make you love me."

"I don't need anything from you to make me love you, Ernie, I already do." he whispered, and was delighted to see the smile spreading across his friends face.

"I-"

"Ernie, shut up." said Justin, bringing his arm up and placing it on the back of the blonde's head to bring his lips to his own for a third kiss.

Justin could feel something rising in his chest, something terribly like triumph and an undisguisable happiness. This was where he was supposed to be, here in Ernie's arms. It was more comforting than the sight of the common room after a long summer. What was wrong? Nothing, because he was in love.


End file.
